


687-309 'Steven'

by heffermonkey



Series: One Million Words Collection [3]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Slavery, Gen, M/M, Master/Slave, master - Freeform, slave - Freeform, slave verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-16
Updated: 2013-04-16
Packaged: 2017-12-08 17:21:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/763994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heffermonkey/pseuds/heffermonkey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny has purchased a new slave, who he names 'Steven'. But he soon finds there are problems with this particular slave, he doesn't talk and can't be coerced or forced to speak. Danny delves into Steve's past, comes into contact with Joe White and learns the truth about Steve's past as well as the origin of his silence. Can he help Steve out of his prison of silence?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Feral

**Author's Note:**

> I inititally wrote '687 - 309' as a one off fic to answer a 'word of the day' prompt @ . Then my internet went off for several days and I'd hit a wall in terms of my writing so I've not written anything for about a fortnight. Then I got reconnected back into the 21st century, exchanged a message or two with kaige68 who told me to WRITE SOME WORDS TO CELEBRATE HAVING THE INTERNET BACK!!!
> 
> So I did

_Feral - not domesticated or cultivated; wild._

"Be careful of that one, got a real feral quality about him."

Danny eyed the slave being spoken about and read through his details on a data pad. He'd been born in a mining colony; one of the farther outposts, kind of place that didn't put much effort into training and teaching slaves. In those places, only the strongest survived. Kind of place that was neglected and overlooked by the lawmakers of the land. The man had a wild, hauty look in his eyes. Challenging. Resistant. How had a slave from a mining colony outpost ended up on the markets as a house slave?

He had Danny intrigued; There was a mystery to solve, a riddle only he didn't have all the peices to form an answer. Not yet. He liked a challenge, it was part of his job as a Detective and as a Master. Challenges were a daily neccessity to juggle the responsibilities of having several slaves to tend and care for. Each with their own individual needs and personalities. He knew it was cliche, but resistance was futile. A slave had little choice but to conform or suffer the consequences; but he was a fair and just Master he liked to think.

Danny looked at him again and it was true, he did look feral. Wild and untamed; a task Danny felt compelled to undertake. It wasn't a case of purchasing him and breaking him. Taming him, that was the goal, bending him to his will, smooth down the rough, discover who he was underneath.

'Slave 687-309,' Danny read on the data pad. He smiled and waved the handler over, to begin bargaining and haggling for a fair price.   
_'687-309_ ," Danny thought to himself. ' _Think I'll call you Steven._ '


	2. Persevere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Persevere - to persist in anything undertaken; maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement; continue steadfastly._

It hadn't taken long for Danny to realise what a task he'd taken on buying his new slave. He'd seen something in Steve when he'd perused the many slaves littering the market that day, that feral look in his eyes belaying his inner nature. Instinct had driven Danny to buy him but now that he had him, it was proving difficult to peel back the layers in order to discover Steve's secrets.

Steve didn't speak; He followed orders, performed tasks, did anything asked of him but he didn't communicate. It became increasingly frustrating, to the point Danny began threatening physical punishments, loathe as he was to do so. When the threats didn't work, Danny had no choice but to have him taken to the whipping post in the small courtyard beyond the house. Deep down he knew it was fruitless to whip the man, if the fear of a whipping wouldn't move him, then the sting of one would only make him withdraw even more. But it was dangerous to threaten punishments without following through, Danny knew from experience. He'd pushed himself into this corner and had no choice but to carry on.

As he rolled up his sleeves he thought about what he was doing; his heart was heavy, being a Master was a burden at times. He questioned what he was doing, why force the man to speak to him? Why was he so desperate to hear Steve's voice and have him talk to him? Was it so neccessary for Steve to communicate? He followed the rules, carried out every order, was as obedient as the other slaves in his home. His only disobedience was that he refused to speak a word and Danny wouldn't be able to understand why unless he explained it to him. It was a vicious, confusing circle they were caught in.

As always, Danny thought back to his fathers many teachings on being a Master and the responsibility the role carried. His father had taught him through stories of personal experiences and made him the Master he was today. _'Always be sure the punishment is fair. A slave needs to trust you are capable of judging a situation fairly. They'll respect you all the more for it.'_

Seeing Steve chained to the whipping post, stripped of his shirt to reveal the broad plain of his back ready for the tail of the whip jolted Danny back to reality. Was it weakness to show remorse if deep down he knew it was wrong? He walked around the man to look him in the eye. Steve looked so resigned to his fate and Danny realised Steve didn't even fear the pain of the whip. Danny drew close enough to reach out and lift Steve's face so he could look in his eyes. Steve blinked as if coming out of a foggy zone, he'd drifted away from the situation, removed himself for a moment.

"What happened to you?" Danny questioned simply. He didn't get an answer, he didn't expect one. He did however catch a look in Steve's eyes, a flash of pain, some deeply held secret.

Danny unlocked Steve's chains himself, ignoring the looks of confusion in the faces of his other slaves who'd been gathered to witness the punishment. As Steve straightened up and drew back in surprise, Danny looked around the members of his household, the slaves all under his charge and care.

"I made a mistake. I can't force him to speak any more than I can force water from a stone."

He sent them back to their chores and watched Steve move off with them, returning to his daily tasks with a little less tension in his body. Danny wondered if he'd inadvertently made a breakthrough in reaching out to him. Probably not, he wasn't that kind of lucky.

Still, he would persevere in hopes that one day he'd figure out the answer to Steve's silence.


	3. Divulge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Divulge - to disclose or reveal (something private, secret, or previously unknown)_

"You got something for me?" Danny asked hopefully as he slid into the seat of the booth Chin Ho Kelly occupied.

Chin was a close friend as well as fellow detective in HPD. Chin had good contacts because of family connections threading back over the course of his families history within the police force as was helping him dig up information on Steve. From the beginning Danny had suspected there was more to Steve's story that what his papers told him. A slave from a distant mining colony didn't wind up on the markets as a house slave. House slaves usually came from better breeding and upbringing than the mining outposts. House slaves came from 'feeder outposts' specifically trained and brought up to serve within households. Only under special circumstances were slaves from mining or farming colonies 'upgraded' to serve within the general population.

Some of those special circumstances were if the slave had been put into a military program. There were plenty of slaves brought up in the military outposts, trained to fight and serve their country. To keep the prisons from filling up, often slaves with small offences were put into the military programmes to serve a term or two depending on their crime, rather than given a prison sentence. But Danny knew this wasn't the case with Steve because his papers would have had to declare he was a criminal. There was still a chance he'd been taken from the mining outpost and put into a military camp. Often, in order to control the population, young male and female slaves showing the right potential were removed and moved to other outposts, be it military or some other training facility.

Danny's instinct told him Steve was military, but just what he'd seen or been part of was evidently top secret or it would have been in his papers. He'd exhausted every avenue trying to find out Steve's history with little success and he hoped Chin had been more successful.

"You owe me big time brah," Chin said with a smile as he slid a file accross the table to him. "Took me a lot of favors to get you this much but I think it'll tell you everything you need to know. You sure know how to pick them Danny."

Danny looked quizzically over at him but Chin gave nothing away, just raised his brows and shook his head at him with a smile. Danny pulled the file closer, took a breath and opened it up. There was a blank page save for a few numbers stamped in the middle - Steve's slave number. He flipped to the next page and this one was filled with words and numbers, all the details he'd been waiting and searching for. There in the top left corner was a pinned photograph of Steve in uniform, standing at attention, staring right into the lens.

Danny took in a few details before he closed the file, knowing it would be best to take it home and read it in full in private.

"Thanks Chin, this - I don't know how to repay you for this."

"Like I said you owe me brah," Chin smiled again with a shrug. "Buy me a beer and a burger and we'll talk over just how much."


	4. Audacious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Audacious - extremely bold or daring; recklessly brave; fearless_

Danny poured over Steve's file for days. He read the information within it over and over, building in his mind a picture of Steve's life until he had every bit of information stored in his brain.

He'd been right. Due to over-population in the mining outpost where Steve had been born, he'd been chosen along with a group of other young men and women to be moved to other outposts. Steve had been moved to a military facility. He was young, strong and would make a good soldier. His papers reflected that he'd excelled in early training and had become a naval cadet, continuously proving his worth as a soldier. _'Fearless. Audacious'_ , he'd been branded by one officer, a Joe White, who nonetheless had reccommended Steve for SEAL's training.

Danny had sat back and pondered on that little titbit of information for some time. The SEAL's. Only the best of the best were chosen and it wasn't common for slaves to be offerred such sought after positions, even less common to be chosen over a free man. But somehow Steve had gotten through the training and granted status as a Navy SEAL. That was where the information began drying up, obviously Chin's contacts didn't reach into military secrets. Even getting this much information must have cost him more than Danny could ever repay.

Danny wondered what had happened. How had Steve gone from a promising Navy career as a SEAL to being a house slave? Was it a fall from grace? Was it the Navy's way of saying job well done, you can live the rest of your life in service within a household rather than return you to the mining colonies? Did his experiences as a SEAL, a mission or missions gone wrong have anything to do with why he refused to communicate verbally?

Danny found he had more questions now than he had before and the only person he could get the answers from was Steve. But how was he going to do that when the man didn't speak?


	5. Reciprocate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Reciprocate - to give, feel, etc., in return._

Danny decided he'd be honest from the start with Steve about what he'd discovered. He'd had a long few days working on a case in which he barely ate or slept but eventually it was wrapped up and he gladly went home, collapsed into bed and remained there for eleven solid hours. The next day he felt refreshed, renergised and ready to begin again trying to break through Steve's layers.

He showered, put on fresh clothes, had a quick breakfast, grabbed a coffee and asked Steve to join him in his study. They sat down at his desk and he simply set the file Chin had given him down in front of Steve, open at the page with his basic information and picture of him in uniform. Danny sat back and watched Steve look it over, giving a small frown as he realised what it was. He tentatively turned a few pages before he sank back, closing it and pushing it away quickly like it was the plague. His face had drained of color and he barely lifted his head to look at Danny.

Knowing it was useless, Danny asked anyway, "Anything you'd like to say about that file?"

Silence as always was his answer. He sighed and leaned forward on his desk, looking over at Steve who hung his head and avoided his eyes.

"Steve, look at me," Danny said calmly. Reluctantly Steve lifted up, obediently looking at him. Danny had figured early on Steve never disobeyed a direct order unless it was to talk. "Are you upset that I found out about your past?"

Still nothing, not even a nod or shake of his head. Danny was used to it by now and pulled the file back towards himself, resting his hands on top of it.

"I knew there was more to you than what your papers told me," Danny continued. "But you won't talk so I found other ways of getting the information. This explains a whole lot but there is still a lot I don't know."

Steve continued to stare at him without a hint of movement. Danny stared back at him for a long time, brain ticking over and over about what he knew. Navy SEAL, military, trained to carry out every command and order given.

"Work with me here, please," Danny pleaded, just wishing something would click with the man. He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. Still Steve was unmoved but his gaze had shifted now, from Danny's face to the file his hand rested on. Danny noticed it and let his brain tick over the information again.

"Did they," Danny began before trailing off. It was a stupid idea, ridiculous really. Still it didn't sound so stupid in his head. "Were you ordered to cease communication?"

Danny remembered the stories his father used to tell him. He'd always thought it was a myth until his father had told him otherwise, of slaves who'd been trained in specific ways to carry out orders to the letter. They were trained so specifically that you had to know special commands in order to communicate with them and woe betide if you gave them the wrong kind of order. It was said some slaves had starved to death, others driven to madness, others becoming increasingly violent because of the training because of orders wrongly given. It had been a training method quickly dropped because of the negative impact on the slaves minds.

Had Steve been trained in similar circumstances or had something happened in a mission, had he been somehow compromised?

Danny opened the file again, seeing Steve flinch as he did so and sit back, like something would jump out from it. He flipped through a few pages, hoping in earnest something would jump out at him. A word, a puzzle peice, answers. It was frustrating. He ran a hand through his hair and glared at the words.

He jumped when suddenly Steve's hand landed on the file and pulled it away from him. Danny went to grab it back but Steve was out of his chair, leaning over and he turned the file to face him, looking it over before he pointed at some words. Danny was surprised and it took him a moment to lean over to see just what Steve was pointing at.

_Joe White_

"Joe White?" Danny said, looking up at Steve. He was even more surprised when Steve gave a stiff nod and prodded at the page again, over and over, on the name 'Joe White'. "Is he the one who did this to you?"

Danny could have laughed he was so elated when Steve gave him a eye roll and shook his head. Okay so White wasn't the bad guy. But Steve was communicating a fraction.

"He has the answers for me?" Danny said instead with a smile.

Steve nodded once again and gave the name a final prod before he withdrew, sinking back into his chair.

"Okay, now we're getting somewhere," Danny grinned. All he had to do now was figure out how to get in touch with this 'Joe White'.


	6. Gratuitous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Gratuitous - given, done, bestowed, or obtained without charge or payment; free; voluntary._

It had taken some weeks but Danny had finally tracked down Joe White. The guy had went to ground it seemed and Danny had had to use contacts back in New Jersey to help find the man but he wasn't a ghost. If you searched hard enough eventually you found what you were looking for.

Between that time of searching, running his household, playing Detective and being a father, Danny was also making some headway with Steve. The man still didn't talk but the moment in the study had brought forth other moments of communication. It seemed that something had clicked with Steve that he wasn't going to be punished for communicating, so now Danny at least got nods and shakes of the head as well as smiles, shrugs and various facial expressions from him. It was a step in the right direction and it felt like more and more Steve was breaking through whatever was holding him back.

He and Chin had just wrapped a case up in the dead of night and wearily they'd headed home, prepared to tidy up loose ends in the light of day. Danny was bone weary as he drove home so it had no fight left in him when a car first began trailing him before forcing him to the side of the road in a remote area outside of down town. He grabbed his gun and was prepared to go down fighting when a man appeared on his passenger side, tapping on the glass. He seemed unfazed by Danny's gun muzzle pointing at his face as Danny warily wound down the window.

"Danny Williams?" The man asked.

"Yeah?" Danny replied, making sure a bullet was ready in the chamber. "What the-?" He exclaimed as the guy opened the door and slid into the seat beside him. He turned and gave Danny a wry smile. 

"I'm Joe White. I believe you've been looking for me."

~

They drove around in Danny's car as Danny quickly explained why he'd been looking for him.

"Steven? Whose Steven?" Joe asked confused.

"Oh, uh, my slave; 687-309," Danny rectified.

Joe turned to him, eyes wide and momentarily dazed. "McGarrett. You own McGarrett?"

It was Danny's turn to frown but he nodded as he pulled into a parking lot overlooking the bay. "Uh, if that is 687-309 then yeah, that's why I've been looking for you. He seems to think you can help me with some answers I need, at least that's what I think he thinks. He's pretty uncommunicative."

"He doesn't talk," Joe replied matter of factly.

"Yeah, you know?" Danny asked, turning off the engine and turning to face him.

"Steve was one of the best recruits we ever took on from the slave camps," Joe said with a hint of pride. "He was a damn good soldier and I knew he had it in him to become a SEAL. He was a good kid too you know, a good man. He just wanted to do his best so he gave his best. Gave his all."

"So what happened?" Danny asked, curiosity killing him as to what had happened to the man Joe described.

"A mission gone wrong," Joe sighed. "I shouldn't be telling you any of this. They find out I told, I'd be in big trouble, but you deserve to know the truth. Everyone should know, he was damaged and what they did to him, just pushing him out, discarded like he was. He deserved better than that, even if he is a slave."

Danny didn't reply, lips pressed firmly together as he waited for Joe to continue.

"Like I said, it was a mission gone wrong. It was a few years after he'd become a SEAL, so he knew what he was doing, had experience under his belt. Only he and his team were sent in with wrong information and they paid for it, some with their lives and others, well, like Steve. I can't give you the details of who or when, but Steve and another of his team were taken hostage. The information we received back was that the entire team had been killed in action so we didn't set up any rescue plan. First we knew they were still alive was when they turned up in a remote location, barely alive, eight months later. They'd been tortured, beaten, in ways you can't even imagine. What we couldn't understand was while the other man told us everything he could remember about his experience, Steve wouldn't communicate. We found out they'd been held seperately and eventually figured that they'd both been exposed to extreme mental training, an old form of slave training used years ago that was slowly phased out because it didn't work, too controlling. Steve, being a slave, was probably more suseptible to it than his fellow hostage and they wore him down so much that they were successful in brainwashing him."

"So what? How'd he end up on the markets as a house slave?" Danny asked, trying to swallow on the information Joe was feeding him.

"He was of no use any more," Joe sighed heavily. "After his experience and him not communicating, he couldn't be used and he was, after all, still a slave. But as he'd been so successful before the failed mission, he was given special favor to be given house slave training and put out onto the markets rather than be returned to the mining outpost. They thought it was a more, humane, reward for his service to his country."

"He communicates a little now," Danny told him. "But not by talking. Wasn't there any way to figure out what they'd done to him?"

"No," Joe shook his head. "I visited him a lot before they put him on the markets. It was as if, in some way, they'd reprogrammed him. All I needed to do was figure out the code. What they've done is slowly picked his basic obedience apart and put it back together, with a code to keep him silent. It could be as simple as a trigger word that would get him talking again but what that word could be anything. And it's difficult for him, because I always got the feeling he wanted to talk, but the brain is a complex thing. That word, that order, makes sure despite himself, despite the struggle, that he'll never speak again unless he's given the command. They broke him, then they tossed him on the side of the road and they did it just because they could. They did it to tell us what they were capable of."

"I don't know how he lives everyday like that," Danny said angrily. The frustration he obviously lived with every day would drive anyone crazy. 

"They probably programmed him to suffer through it," Joe pointed out. "It isn't unlikely that they programmed his other behaviours, made it impossible to say, take his own life or even simply write down for us what happened to him. They've locked him in a prison, only it's one without bars or walls."

"God damn bastards," Danny said through gritted teeth. It all made sense now only it made him all the more despairing. "Isn't there anything that can be done to help him?"

Joe sighed and shook his head, giving him a grim smile. "Military washed their hands of him when they realised what had happened. Should have been he wound up serving in a household until they got tired of his silence and sold him on. He'd have been better of going back to the mines. Instead he ended up with you. How'd you end up finding out about him anyway?"

"I'm a Detective, I look for the answers to puzzles and I have my contacts," Danny replied blithely.

"Can I see him?" Joe asked after a long pause. "I'd like to see him. In the end they stopped my visits and the next I heard he was out on the markets and I was sent to a new position as a training officer. Basically I was meant to forget about him, only I never have."

"Yeah, okay," Danny agreed seeing the earnest in Joe's face. The man had given him more information that he'd ever hoped of gaining. "Tomorrow. I need to go home, rest and think over what you've told me. Where are you staying? I'll bring him to you. I'd prefer you didn't come to my home."

Joe told him the name of his hotel, his room number and handed him a card with his phone number on it.

"Tomorrow, noon," Danny said as he pocketed the card. "No funny business."

"None I promise," Joe agreed, opening the passenger door.

"Don't you want me to take you back to your car?" Danny asked.

Joe slid out of the car and leaned down, grinning at him with a withering look in his eye. "Wasn't my car. Noon sharp, see you tomorrow Detective."


	7. Perfunctory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Perfunctory - lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm; indifferent or apathetic_

"We're going for a drive," Danny informed Steve, cornering him on the lanai as he fixed a broken chair leg. Danny had learned to give Steve time consumming, laborious jobs which helped burn his energy which at times seemed never ending.

Steve looked up at him with a frown and Danny motioned with his hand. "Come on, lets go."

He led the way through the house, Steve trailing behind him. He sat in the passenger side, pulled on his seatbelt and gazed blankly out of the window as Danny pulled away from the house.

"Don't you want to know where we're going?" Danny asked, not expecting a verbal answer. 

He pulled up at a stop sign and glanced at Steve who gave a shrug. Since purchasing him from the markets, Steve hadn't left his home. Danny had expected him to be excited about the prospect of getting away from the place but Steve showed no interest in as they followed the coast line before turning off to drive down town. It was a beautiful day and Danny put on a pair of sunglasses before reaching over and pulling down the sunshield on Steve's side, as he winced through the glare of the sun.

They pulled up to the hotel not long after, a small, run down place that looked all kinds of shady. Danny got out and had to open Steve's passanger door before he moved, still unenthusiastic about what they were doing. He followed close behind Danny as they made their way inside and took the stairs to the third floor. Danny didn't think he could trust the lift to get them to their destination in one peice. He tapped on Joe's door and waited thirty seconds before it opened.

Joe stepped back, opening the door wider and Danny looked at Steve who had a wide eyed look on his face, mouth gaping. He'd turned from perfunctory to interested in mere seconds and tripped inside ahead of Danny as Joe closed the door behind them.

Danny was surprised as Joe and Steve sized each other up before drawing near to one another. He damn near fell through the floor when Steve put his arms around the other man and gripped him in a bear hug which Joe kindly reciprocated. It was the most communication of care and trust Steve had ever shown and Danny was warmed by it. More and more he felt hope that one day he'd find the key to Steve's silence and unlock him.

He felt a lump develop in his throat when he realised there were tears in Steve's eyes. How much help had Joe given him in the days and months after he'd been found? How lonely had he been when Joe had been stopped seeing him? How much abandonment could a person take? It was simply impossible to understand Steve's situation, the seeming helplessness of it all.

Danny knew he had to do something.


	8. Competent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Competent - having suitable or sufficient skill, knowledge, experience, etc., for some purpose; properly qualified_

Danny began searching for help. First he studied and learned all he needed to know about Steve's situation. From the information Joe had given him as well as vague memories of history lessons and stories from his father, he scoured information websites and the library on Steve's programmed behaviour. He discovered such training of slaves to be more or less robotic had been hugely popular hundreds of years ago, but as civilsations and people advanced, so too did training methods. The old stories were true, Danny discovered records of slaves driven mad by programmed commands inadvertently given by inexperienced masters, or some starving themselves to death or working to utter exhaustion. Eventually most governments had banned all such training in facilities and outposts and within a century it had been eradicated.

Evidently it was still practised by those wanting to send a subtle message of power and Steve had been their guinea pig. How many others had been tortured in such ways? And how many had been cast aside when those meant to help them realised nothing could be done for them?

Danny researched doctors, therapists, anybody who could help in Steve's case. He contacted many and received few if any responses. Some wouldn't deal with slaves, others simply didn't have the answers to deal with Steve's condition. Joe began helping in the search also, but Danny decided from the start to keep it secret from Steve. He didn't want him to build his hopes if nothing could be done.

Weeks went by and slowly but surely he'd built up a new way of communicating with Steve. He realised once Steve understood there wouldn't be adverse reactions to certain behaviours that Steve was all the more confident in communicating. So they went with nods and shakes of the head, shrugs of the shoulders if he didn't understand or was confused. He'd point things out and even made facial expressions. The more they communicated, the more drawn Danny felt to his slave and wanted to spend every spare minute with him.

"Danny," Joe said one day over the phone. He sounded happy, excited even. "I just received and email from a Professor William Dalton. He'd like to meet Steve."

"Who is he?" Danny asked, confused. Joe had never mentioned contacting a professor. 

"You've probably read several of his research papers and didn't even know it," Joe explained. "He's an expert on Steve's situation, specifically he's studied, researched and even worked with volunteers on the old programming training system used back then as part of his research into brain functions, brain washing, reprogramming, that sort of thing. I took a chance in writing to him, thought maybe he could even point us in the right direction. We've exchanged some emails and he'd like to meet Steve, assess the situation for himself."

"You think he could really help?" Danny said, sitting down. He didn't need to ask, he knew Joe's answer and he knew this was the break they'd been waiting for.


	9. Resilient

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Resilient -recovering readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyant._

"Look I appreciate everything, I really do," Danny said honestly, looking the Professor in the eye. "But I need to know firstly, will this work. Is this a definite thing? And secondly how much will it cost? Because as much as I want this for him, I'm not a rich man Professor."

Dalton looked him in the eye. He was in his early sixties, handsome with still a head full of thick black hair peppered with grey, green eyes, tall and broad shouldered.

"Detective Williams," Dalton told him. "I feel confident enough that we'll make some breakthroughs but I can't make promises because there are no sure things. As for cost - Steve's situation is unique, if you agree to let me work with him and to write a paper on his case we can forfeit any charge."

"Doc, I don't know," Danny said warily, waiting for the catch.

Dalton didn't look away, giving him a smile. Then man had a warm personality, Danny knew he cared and found Steve not only unique but he sympathised with his pain and frustrations of living daily with his situation.

"Detective, no person should have to live like he is living. I may not be able to find the key to his programming but I may be able to override the programming. But I need time and it's a complex case."

"You mean if you can't figure out what they did to him, you'll just re-programme him?" Danny said in alarm.

"Well, yes, in a way," Dalton told him. "But in a better way, a good way. You'd be informed of everything we do and we wouldn't do anything without yours, or Steven's consent. He may be a slave but he's been through enough trauma already without forcing him to endure this. I need both of you in agreement to let me go ahead with any treatment I wish to use."

"No pain, no medication," Danny shook his head.

Dalton looked at him wryly and frowned, "Of course not Detective. I want to help him, not torture him or make him suffer."

"I'm sorry, I had to ask," Danny apologised quickly. "Well if you can explain it to Steve like you have me and he's happy to go ahead then you have my consent. If he wants to stop at any time, then it stops."

"Agreed," Dalton nodded. "Let's go talk to him."

~

Steve had agreed and Danny had left him in the Professors very capable hands. He couldn't be present all the time but the Professor promised to stay in touch and keep him updated. Danny returned home, finding himself missing Steve and even feeling lonely on occasion even though the house was filled with other slaves. Work consumed him but all the while he thought on Steve and if he was making progress. Every day he hoped something would click, that a breakthrough would occur but the Professor had a lot to deal with.

Days passed by, with little change though the Professor had warned him there would be no quick fix. Danny visited when he could but it was hard when he had other responsibilites to attend. It had been three weeks with only a handful of visits in between and little progress. Danny parked his car and headed into the medical complex, wondering if today would be any different to the last visit.

"Ah, Detective," Dalton greeted him, as ever reading over a file and looking busy. "Go on ahead, Steve's in his room. I'll be along in a moment."

Danny walked ahead, tapping on Steve's door before he let himself inside. Steve had been given a comfortable suite to stay in and was sitting on the small sofa when Danny arrived.

"Hi," Danny said as he closed the door behind him.

"Hi."

He felt his knees go weak and his chest tighten. He leaned back against the door before he collapsed and stared open mouthed to the other side of the room where Steve had stood up. He stood there with a nervous smile on his face, gazing back over at him.

"Hi," Danny said again, trying to get himself into gear. What the hell - had Steve just spoken to him?

"Hi," Steve repeated again. "I, uh, hello. Sir."

"I need to sit down," Danny said awkwardly, moving to the side and sitting at a chair by the desk there.

Steve walked over to him in concern, putting a hand on his shoulder and lowering down to look at him. "Are you okay?"

He spoke slow, like he was trying to remember how to put sentences together. Danny liked his voice, liked hearing his voice. He sat back and took a deep gulp or two, filling his lungs and stared at Steve in wonder.

"I'm fine. You're talking. I don't even - when? What - Dalton didn't tell me."

"I asked him not too. Uh - surprise?"

"When?" Danny asked, leaning over and staring at Steve, at his lips, like it was some kind of miracle.

"Yesterday. Just happened. Clicked," Steve said, clicking his fingers as he said it, before tapping his head with his fingers instead. "Something clicked. Like a barrier falling down."

"This is amazing," Danny said in wonder and he couldn't help himself. He reached out and cupped Steve's face, brushing his fingers over his lips.

"Feels amazing. You have no idea how long I've been waiting," Steve paused and put his hands over Danny's, taking a breath. "Thank you."

Dalton interrupted them as he entered the room, finding them to the right of the door. Steve stood up and Danny just gazed with a dazed expression at the Professor. 

"You fixed him," Danny pointed out, wondering how to repay the man.

"Well," Dalton said with a small shrug, self depracating. He moved over to the small table in Steve's room, motioning for the two men to join him. "I suppose you can look at it that way."

They all sat down and Danny couldn't help but stare at Steve, like he was a whole new person now.

"How'd you do it? When?" Danny asked, pausing in thought and wondering if he ought to phone Joe and tell him the news.

"You know some of the methods I've been using, including hypnosis. We found the hypnosis was the most productive, a way of overriding as it were the implanted programming eventually. In the last few sessions I was able to successfully get Steve talking to me under hypnosis and I was able to put the peices together as to the command structure they'd implanted. With that I was simply able to unlock the code as it were once he was out of hypnosis using the old fashioned methods but in a positive, productive sense. And here we are."

"How do you feel?" Danny asked, leanning in towards Steve.

Steve smiled and shrugged, still getting used to his voice after so long without use of it. "It's strange. It's like I'm dreaming. I could always talk in my dreams. I'm afraid I'm going to wake up and this isn't real."

"It will take time to recover from what has happened to you," Dalton reminded them both. "You went through a traumatic experience when you were taken captive and then for them to do this to you. It's like you were never freed from that captivity. I'd like to continue working with Steve, for at least another week intense therapy and then as an out patient. A person doesn't recover from this without some kind of fallout."

"But he will stay, well, cured," Danny asked, for Steve's peace of mind as well as his own.

"Oh yes," Dalton assured them with a grin. "I'm sure before long, once this has sunk in, that you won't be able to shut him up unless under the threat of the lash. And even that might not stop him."


	10. Consummate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Consummate - to bring to a state of perfection; fulfill_

Dalton continued to work with Steve and even made home visits when he eventually discharged him and allowed him to return home with Danny. In between that time, Joe had been to visit Steve at the medical centre as well and made sure to meet up with Danny to talk over some important points.

"I have to warn you Danny," Joe said as they sat one evening drinking beers on his lanai. "You'd be best keeping quiet about Steve's recovery, I mean from certain people."

"You mean the government? The Navy?" Danny asked him, watching him closely.

Joe nodded and took a slow drink. "He was a Navy SEAL, the missions he went on, there's obviously a degree of secrecy he needs to keep. You need to respect that and not ask him about it. When he couldn't speak and they gave up on him, it didn't matter much anyway because he could never tell anyone the things he was asked to do or where he was sent. Of course that failsafe isn't there any more and they could look upon him as some sort of risk now."

"They washed their hands of him when they decided he was of no use to them any more," Danny said angrily. "They won't get him back."

"You know you wouldn't be able to stop them if they tried," Joe warned, understanding Danny's anger. "So let's just keep this quiet. Dalton may be writing a paper on this case, but I've spoken to him, there'll be nothing in there that points to this being Steve specifically and he'll sit on it for a while, while he continues his research."

"Who would I tell any way?" Danny shrugged. The only people who knew the intracacies of the case were Joe, Dalton and Chin. He trusted all of them to keep quiet. As far as the Navy was concerned, they didn't know Danny knew Steve's history. As far as they were concerned, Danny owned a slave who originated in a mining colony and had become a house slave because of overpopulation.

"Just be careful is all I'm saying, watch your back, be careful who he comes into contact with," Joe said grimly.

"We will thanks," Danny agreed.

~

Danny found there was a whole different side to Steve now that he could verbally communicate. He'd always been a Master who encouraged his slaves personalities to show and with Steve it was no different. Steve returned to his duties as before, only now he asked to do more. Danny had always suspected that Steve needed to burn off his energy more than his chores and jobs around the house provide him a chance too. He asked if he could go running and swimming. Though they lived by the beach, Danny didn't spend much time in the water and at first was wary of giving Steve so much freedom, but they agreed if it didn't cause hindrance to his daily chores then he had forty five minutes morning and night for such activity. 

The first night Steve went running Danny stood anxious on the lanai telling himself he'd made a mistake. Steve wouldn't come back and then there would be a shit storm. He'd have to inform the authorities, somehow the Navy would find out, then they'd take Steve away from him. When Steve appeared in the distance pounding the sand with a solid pace, returning home to him, Danny let out a sigh of relief.

"Thought I wasn't coming back didn't you?" Steve smirked as he reached the lanai, breathless, sweaty.

Danny couldn't help but smile in return, waving a hand at him dismissively. "Maybe I'll just have a tracker fitted to you, so I know where you are at all times. You might get lost."

"Could always come with me, but not sure those little legs would keep up," Steve said blithely grabbing a towel from a recliner.

Danny gave him a stern look but inside he was laughing. Steve liked to banter, they even argued on occasion but always in good humour, it was a good feeling and made Danny warm inside. Steve being able to talk had opened up a whole new side to him and Danny liked getting to know the real Steve.

"Go shower, supper will be ready soon," Danny said with a sniff, grimacing playfully. "And you're stinking up my lanai."

Steve looked like he wanted to say something but thought better of it. Danny also liked that he knew when it was time to follow orders and not talk back. Instead he hung the towel around his neck and sidled past Danny, heading into the house. Danny rocked on his feet, Steve looked good, smelled good too, all worked out, sweaty and ready for a good meal to sate his appetite. He watched his retreating back and took in the profile of strong shoulders, well defined arms tainted with ink. It wasn't uncommon for slaves to have tattoos, especially from the mining colonies. Steve had been thirteen when he'd gotten his first one, by the time he'd been moved to the military facility, he'd gained three more on his arms and shoulder blades.

It was a beautiful evening and Grace was staying over for a few days. Danny always ate with the slaves when he could, in his household he made sure there was an underlying feeling of 'ohana'. That evening they ate out on the lanai enjoying each others company. Danny sat back with satisfaction as the food was devoured and they all talked and laughed about their day. He watched as Grace and Steve played and laughed together, feeling that warmth inside him again. Now and then Steve glanced his way, eyes gleaming before Grace grabbed his attention again. Danny had been feeling the desire build up slowly inside himself for months and knew it wouldn't be long before he acted on it. More and more he got the feeling Steve was just waiting for something to happen, but it had to be him who made the first move.

The hours ticked by and Grace was soon dozing contentedly curled up on Danny's lap. One by one everyone began clearing the table then drifting off to their beds. Danny didn't run a strict household with curfews but eventually it was just him and Steve left at the table.

"I should put her to bed," Danny said, standing up slowly, reminding himself Grace wasn't getting any younger or smaller as her dead weight setttled in his arms. "Will you lock up behind us?"

"Yeah," Steve said as he stood and followed him inside. He locked the back door and checked the front door as Danny made his way upstairs. Steve shadowed him all the way to Grace's room, opening the door , pulling down the bedcovers as Danny set her down. He was glad he'd told her to change into her pyjamas halfway through the evening, knowing in hindsight she'd be out for the count probably before he got her into her bed. It was school vacation, so he didn't mind her having a later bedtime. He tucked her in, pressed a warm kiss to her forehead and ushered himself and Steve out of the room, closing the door behind them.

"Well, goodnight," Steve said as they looked at one another in the muted darkness.

Silently Danny snagged him by the wrist and led him along to his bedroom, pulling him gently inside before closing the door again. There, in the privacy of his room, Danny pulled Steve closer, taking a final look in his eyes to make sure he wasn't mistaken before he pulled him in for a kiss. His hand curled around Steve's neck, the other slid around his waist. Steve gave a small gasp before their mouths connected, kissing just as eagerly as Danny. For a long time they stood entwined, Danny didn't want to rush, something had been building between them for so long he didn't want to spoil the moment.

When they pulled apart Steve was holding him close he could feel him shaking softly. Danny looked at him in concern, fearing he'd made a mistake. But Steve looked relieved as well as nervous.

"You okay?" Danny asked gently, rubbing a hand up and down his arm.

"This is real isn't it?" Steve whispered tensely. "Sometimes I dream none of this has happened. That they still have me strapped up, locking me into my mind. I need this to be real."

"Hey c'mere, come on," Danny said, moving them slowly over to the bed. He sat Steve down, cupping his face with his hands. "It's real babe. It's over, we got you fixed."

"And this," Steve said, putting his hands around Danny's waist. "Us."

Danny smiled warmly and leaned down to kiss him softly, their lips brushing over one anothers for a few seconds. "I wasn't sure what I was feeling at first was real, but I wanted it to be. I didn't want to rush, you've gone through a lot and I needed to be sure you feel the same. I want you, all of you."

"I want that, want you," Steve said quickly, like if he didn't say the words fast enough he'd lose them.

Danny kissed him again, hand trailing down over Steve's t-shirt to his pants where he cupped his growing erection with eagerness. Steve gasped and pulled back, eyes heavy with desire as his hips shifted in response.

"Do you think dreams can make you feel that much?" Danny said, squeezing and enjoying the small moan he elicited from Steve. "Do they fuel that desire and need?"

"No, god no," Steve groaned, grabbing a fistful of shirt and pulling Danny closer to kiss him again. In between kisses he pleaded softly against Danny's lips. "Please, please."

Danny wondered if Steve ever touched himself? Or when he'd last been with someone? How long had he needed this kind of touch and tenderness from another person? Steve was desperate even though they were only starting and Danny was pretty sure he kept cupping and squeezing him he'd come in his pants right there. Danny kissed him hard, his own desries fueled by the idea. It would be over quickly but it would be hot all the same. Still, he'd prefer Steve not to be wearing so much layering. He remembered the sight of skin sheened with sweat, inked arms and that strong, lean back. He moved his hand to begin tugging at Steve's t-shirt, Steve letting go of him long enough to help pull it off.

It was discarded on the floor and Danny unbuttoned his own shirt, feeling the haze of desire muting his speech. "Pants," he said to Steve as he peeled his shirt off, pausing to watch Steve free the button of his cargoes and pull down the zipper, arms and ink rippling.

"Fuck," Danny whispered out as Steve began inching down the waistline, revealing more skin, his cock bobbing free.

Danny couldn't wait any longer, the angle was awkward but he leaned down, batting Steve's hands away and stopping him moving further as he wrapped a hand around his shaft. Steve grunted desperately and lifted into the touch as Danny kissed him hard before trailing his tongue down his neck, biting and lapping at the threads of black ink painting his shoulders. He knew Steve was on the edge, didn't care it would be over soon, they had plenty of time ahead to take things slower. He moved his hand quickly and efficent, feeling Steve tremble, shake, clinging to him as he threw his head back and moaned.

"Sir, Danny - fuck I, god," Steve shouted and bucked, whole body convulsing with exploding energy. Danny felt his cock pulsing in his hand, wet warmth pouring over his skin. He kept pulling and squeezing as Steve squirmed and jerked uncontrollably in his pleasure. When he fell still, clinging to him with the last of his strength Danny smiled, pushing him down and following him so he could lie against his sated body.

Steve breathed heavily and kissed him sloppily, unable to say much but Danny was content to lie in silence enjoying him as he was. They had all night and the future ahead of the them to analyse their feelings. 

But for the moment everything was perfect.

~fin~


End file.
